A Certain Branch's Struggle
by spaghettiluver
Summary: The peaceful summer days in Academy City have been broken by a series of incidents. Now Judgment must team up with a group of mysterious boys as they investigate just what is happening to the city. M for safety. OC's.
1. Old Meets New

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Index nor Railgun series. If I did, I would be publishing this as a book to try to make some money off of it.**

Chapter 1-Old Meets New

**Russia-Three Months Ago**

The world has become a place of scientific wonder. The great Academy City has become a hotbed of discovery and breakthroughs. With a population of 2.3 million, with 80% of the people being students, this is to be expected. The citizens study things such as AIM Diffusion Fields in order to further the Power Curriculum Program, which 60% of the students participate in. For every ethical scientist, however, there must be an unethical one. The biggest breakthroughs come through illegal testing and experiments. In order to make Level 6 a reality, these horrible things must take place. I just wish that someday, I can be for-

Jonathan tossed aside the document he was reading. He was five feet ten inches tall with short blond hair. An American at the age of fifteen, an abandoned Russian laboratory did not come off as the most fitting place for him to be. "I came to investigate, not to read someone's memoirs, right?"

He turned towards another boy in the room with him. This one was distinctly Japanese, with messy brown hair and a furrowed brow. "Just keep on reading, we need to know what happened here."

"We all ready know what happened here Kyosuke! Some pervert did some illegal experiments."

"On who and for what?"

"Those are just details."

"We need to kind out who these experiments involved. Who had their lives ruined by them. Who needs to know what has happened."

"You're saying…we need to expose these experiments to clueless people who would rather not know about them?"

"I heard Tokiwadai's Railgun learned of the Sisters Program."

That stopped Jonathan in his tracks. Misaka Mikoto, the Railgun. A Level 5 esper who had her DNA used in an unethical cloning experiment. "You know…we might end up working with her Kyosuke."

"But she isn't part of Judgment, correct?"

"She's troublesome, kind of like the boss."

"Damn. The last thing we need is a version of her that can catch us when we run."

As if waiting for this exact moment, Jonathan's cell phone went off. "Speak of the devil," he muttered as he took the call. At the end of the conversation, he turned to Kyosuke. "We're regrouping, let's go."

**177****th**** Judgment Branch Office-Present Day**

Saten Ruiko bounced up the stairs of the Judgment office. An outgoing middle school student, the only stain on her record would be her lack of power. As a Level 0, she lives in a world of incredible abilities with none of her own. _I hope Uiharu and Kuroko can get off early and go shopping!_ As Saten planned out her day, she almost ran into a middle-aged woman in the hallway. "Sorry ma'am!"

The woman paused for a moment, then continued on down the hall. "No harm done."

_Weirdo,_ thought Saten as she made her way to Uiharu's office. Throwing open the door and letting out a loud "Howdy!" Saten was met with an awkward silence. Her friends Uiharu and Kuroko were joined by the chief of the office Konori Mii in scanning over two boys standing in the room. Judging by their appearances, Saten placed them in the fifteen to seventeen age range. "Um…what's up?"

Saten's question managed to knock Konori out of her stupor. "Oh! Saten. Did you happen to pass a woman in the hallway?"

"Yeah."

"Is she gone now?"

"Yeah…she left."

Mii slapped her forehead. "That aggravating woman."

Uiharu, Saten's classmate and a member of Judgment turned to Mii. "Just who exactly was that?"

"That was Nell Spellman, a teacher."

This caught Kuroko's attention. "I've heard that name before."

"She's a pushy woman who formed a group of high-ranking espers that investigate internal issues. In short, she leads an elite team that does whatever it wants."

"Why was she here?," asked Saten.

Kuroko exploded. "You wouldn't believe that woman! She just barged in here and was all 'Here are the boys you asked for,' then she dumped these two on us!"

Saten returned her attention to the two boys, who had yet to utter a single word. If Mii's words were the truth, these two were powerful espers. _Maybe they have military training, that would explain how they just stand there._

All of a sudden, the blond boy spoke up. "We were asked to be transferred here by the higher ups, Spellman agreed to it."

Kuroko was boiling over, her agitation clear for all to see. "What! Why!"

The second boy faced her. "To put it in her words: 'That branch keeps on throwing itself into a bunch of shit.'"

"Excuse me!"

"You guys have been involving yourselves in high-profile investigations and doing work more geared toward Anti-Skill."

That made sense to Saten. Judgment was sort of a group of citizens working for citizens. While Judgment members could interfere with misdemeanors, more serious crimes were left to Anti-Skill, the police force of Academy City. The 177th Branch Office, thanks to ties with the hot-blooded Misaka Mikoto, often found itself embroiled in large-scale conflicts.

"Don't worry," said the blond, "we're both Level 4. We won't hold you back or anything."

Konori Mii sat down in her chair. She took off her glasses, cleaned them with a rag, and put them back on. "In that case, your supervisor did not bother to introduce the two of you at all."

The blond boy blushed slightly. "Sorry about that. I'm Jonathan. My ability is Burst. I can speed myself up and make my movements more fluid for a period of time. I like pretzels and vanilla wafers"

The other boy came forward. "I'm Kyosuke. My ability is Wormhole. I create holes in space time. I like…Gundam"

As the girls introduced themselves, Saten could not help but feel that these boys would be both interesting and a huge pain in her side.

**Elsewhere**

Misaka Mikoto was feeling aimless. She was planning to spend her day reading manga for free at the convenience store. When she got there, however, she was met with the terrible truth that Jump was on hiatus that week. Now her plans for the day were ruined. At this rate, she would end up going to the Judgment office looking for amusement. In these peaceful days, however, Judgment had mostly relegated itself to tracking down litterbugs and shoplifters. In short, boring cases.

Wandering aimlessly through town, Misaka took a short-cut through an alley. If her powers were good for one thing, it was self defense. There were few things in the city that could hope to harm Tokiwadai's Railgun. Due to this, she could go wherever she wished. That was why she didn't even flinch when she heard something approaching from behind. Spinning around, Misaka faced what she assumed was some street punk. Instead, she found her herself confronted by a blue beetle-like robot.

_What is this silly thing-_ Misaka's thoughts were cut short by a blast of energy from the thing's head. "Just when I thought things would get boring around here!"

Misaka leapt out of the way while throwing a bolt of electricity. Her shot hit its mark, and the thing exploded. _That wasn't very hard…but what was it? _Misaka grabbed some pieces of wreckage to bring to the office. _If it's electronic, Uiharu can analyze it._

**Night**

Kyosuke and Jonathan left the office as a girl went careening past them with some metal in her hands.

Jonathan looked up at the night sky. "Seems like a whole bunch of trouble, teaming up with these girls."

"I think it'll be interesting."

"That doesn't mean it won't be trouble."

"True enough, I heard that branch was involved with the Level Upper incident and the battle against Telestina."

"Yeah, and the hot girl wasn't even a member of Judgment."

"Excuse me?"

"Saten. She was kind of curvy and…I liked it."

"We're not here so you can have an ill-conceived romance with some girl still in middle school."

"Wow, what a hardass."

"Wow, what a dumbass."

**To be continued…**

**Please review, assuming anybody even read this.**


	2. Arbitrators

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Index nor Railgun series. If I did, I would be publishing this as a book to try to make some money off of it.**

Chapter 2-Arbitrators

**177****th**** Branch Office-6:00 A.M.**

Kuroko walked in a daze to the office. She was not having a good time. First those two stupid boys had been dumped on her and now she was being called in early the next day. the only highlight of the day was when her "onee-sama" Misaka Mikoto came to visit. It wasn't recreational however, Misaka had wanted Uiharu to analyze some wreckage of what she described as a 'blue beetle robot.' _How childish of her, always being attracted to things like that._ In fact, Misaka had been called to the office as well. She was procrastinating though, and was probably still in the dorm room she shared with Kuroko. _Something tells me this early-morning meeting was called over this "robot" of hers._

Entering the office, she was met by Konori Mii and a very tired looking Uiharu. _She definitely spent the night looking at that metallic trash._ "Hello everyone."

Konori got up and stretched, visibly annoyed. "Where is everybody? I called those two boys and the Railgun down here too."

Twenty minutes later, Kyosuke and Jonathan showed up. While Jonathan looked well-rested, Kyosuke seemed worse for wear. As they entered the office, they were embroiled in a conversation.

"So when did you go to bed?"

"Two in the morning."

"Why would you do that to yourself?"

"I had homework."

"But why so late."

"That was when I felt like doing it."

Misaka Mikoto did not show up until 7:00 A.M. She casually strolled in, looking well-rested. Kuroko did not take kindly to this. She was going to say something, but Mii asked her to wake up Uiharu, who had fallen asleep at her desk.

**A cup of coffee later…**

Uiharu addressed her audience, which consisted of her Judgment teammates, Misaka, and the two boys from Spellman's group. _I should probably be thinking of them as teammates, not a separate force._ "Yesterday, Misaka was attacked by some sort of mechanical being. Thankfully, she subdued it and brought me some samples. After a comprehensive study I found…nothing."

Kyosuke looked at her with a blank expression on his face. He could have still been sleeping if not for this meeting. "Is there a point to all this?"

"Yes, Misaka brought back pieces of metal. I need someone to find me a computer board or something along those lines."

Mii scratched her scalp. "Why didn't you just send me."

Uiharu took a deep breath to calm herself. This next bit of info was important. "Recently…there have been a string of disappearances in the area."

Kyosuke's eyes widened. "Do you think there is a connection?"

"It's a theory."

Konori Mii stepped up to grab the reigns of the conversation. "I think I have a grasp on it all now. With Misaka here, we have a collection of three Level 4 espers and a Level 5. You will all team up to investigate the area where Misaka was attacked. Any questions?"

John raised his hand. "Do we get breakfast before or after?"

**The Alleys**

Jonathan rubbed the side of his head with his hand. His little joke had earned him a swift roundhouse kick from Shirai Kuroko. "Some people just take life a little too seriously."

"Some people make stupid comments at bad times," was Kyosuke's reply.

"You're one of them, you know that? You only seem to accept underhanded, hypocritical humor. As soon as I go to make a joke, you pounce."

"Only when we're working."

Work was not the word Jonathan would have used to describe what he was doing. After an hour and a half, all the group had found was a wallet. There was no wreckage where Misaka had claimed a battle had taken place. "Yeah, well this is just a long boring walk that we're taking."

"If you don't have the stamina, go sleep in a dumpster or something."

**177****th**** Branch Office**

Uiharu wrote up what she could determine from the samples she had in a quick report. The metal was surprisingly malleable, and could be bent when heated up just a little bit. There were also pockets of liquid inside of the metal. In a controlled reaction, Uiharu released some of this liquid. It immediately turned to gas. _What am I dealing with…what are we dealing with?_

**Alleyway**

The incredible thing about wormholes is that they can move something from one space time into another. This is a step up from teleportation, which moves things across space in a pocket dimension. Instead, a window to the past or future can be opened up on the opposite side of the globe. In theory, enemy attacks could be turned against the attackers if the power is applied correctly. For example, say you and I are in an alleyway that was overrun by beetle robots. All of a sudden, one fires a laser beam at you and your allies. You, being an esper with the Wormhole ability, opens up a portal and the laser goes in. Now all you have to do is open up another portal near the robot and let the laser hit the it.

Or if your name is Kyosuke, you could accidentally shoot yourself in the foot.

As Kyosuke rolled on the ground clutching his now singed shoe, everyone else went into action. Misaka's electricity flew, Kuroko's needles met their marks, and Jonathan's burst ability gave him the power to fight with his bare hands. This all resulted in a battle that was over with incredibly quickly.

"They came out of nowhere," said Kuroko as she gathered up her needles.

"That assumption is incorrect," stated Kyosuke as he got to his feet, "They were probably hiding in the surrounding buildings."

John brushed off his hands. "I really don't want to hear that from you, spaz."

"What did I do to deserve that?"

"You shot yourself!"

As the two argued, Misaka shifted through the wreckage. Gathering up anything that looked like a computer chip or a CPU, she turned towards the duo and shocked them back to reality.

John just stared at her. "This better not effect my ability to reproduce."

Cue another kick from Kuroko.

**177****th**** Branch Office**

Uiharu got a couple hours of sleep, only to be awoken by the return of her teammates. With them they had fragments of CPU's and memory chips. None were completely intact. Thus began a long day of combining the data fragments in each piece in order to create one complete chip.

In the background, Kuroko was complaining about Kyosuke's uselessness and Jonathan's underhanded comments. Nothing big, just noisy. Then Saten showed up. _I think I might die before this gets finished…_

**?**

_The creation of the ultimate force…how goes it…_

"Should you really talk to me in such a matter?"

_I control them…it's all up to me…as the core unit._

"But I control you, a thing you seem to be forgetting."

_From my point of view…you're the one serving me…_

"Well…we do have similar goals. This might be closer to a partnership than a master-servant relationship."

_Just increase my troops…and your goal will be fulfilled…all that disgusts you…all that you despise…shall end in destruction._

"…I await that day quite eagerly."

**to be continued…**

**Did anything really even happen in this chapter? Please review.**


	3. No Dates During Work Hours

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Index nor Railgun series. If I did, I would be publishing this as a book to try to make some money off of it.**

Chapter 3-No Dates During Work Hours

**Academy City-Afternoon**

Saten Ruiko trudged out of the school building with disheveled hair and a crick in her shoulder. Due to her status as a Level 0, she was forced to take extra lessons designed to boost her psychic ability level. While she tried hard at the lessons, it was pretty lame to be working while others her age got to enjoy summer in all of its glory. _It's better than being in Judgment though,_ thought Saten as she remembered what Uiharu was up to.

A few days ago, a myriad of robotic parts were brought to the 177th branch office. Despite Uiharu's incredible computer skills, it would take her a lot of work to gather a decent amount of data from the wreckage. In fact, Uiharu had essentially kicked Saten out of the office yesterday. Saten would usually come to the office when she was bored, mainly to bother Uiharu and chat with Konori and Kuroko. Sometimes, Misaka would get the same idea as Saten. Saten was getting the feeling, however, that visiting the office the next few days would prove detrimental to her health. Hell hath no fury like an irritated Uiharu. While she seemed like a nice girl, she could be dangerous after she dropped all of her barriers. It was a rare occurrence that Saten did not wish to experience.

The end result to this line of thinking was a very bored Saten with nothing to do with her day. _You'd think I would be excited to get out of school. Might as well go to the arcade._

**Elsewhere**

Jonathan walked the streets of the city, taking in the sights and sounds. He passed a crepe stand with a long line in front of it. At a bench in the area sat a mother and her child. The child had all ready finished her crepe and was staring at her mother with wide eyes. The mother did her best to ignore her daughter, but broke down against the pressure. She handed off her crepe and watched with a look of amusement as it was quickly devoured.

_Now who,_ pondered Jonathan, _would stay cooped up inside on a glorious summer day such as this_.

The answers to this question were: Kyosuke and Uiharu Kazari. Uiharu was doggedly attempting to salvage data from the machines Jonathan wrecked yesterday. Kyosuke was there too, but for no real reason. Neither Jonathan nor Kyosuke were technical wizards. The most complicated thing Jonathan could recall doing was downloading music from a seedy file-sharing site. Kyosuke did not fare much better. He had managed to unzip some files once, but only after following a step-by-step guide on the web.

"Seriously, he's wasting all of his time being useless."

Kyosuke was a model agent. Trained in both combat and investigation, he was a person that would always show results. He was also extremely practical, and would usually let a person such as Uiharu go solo on such a tech-heavy endeavor. _Kyosuke must view this as a big case if he's willing to sink time into doing something he knows he can't._

With this thought on his mind, Jonathan made an impulse decision to check out the arcades in town. He was quite a fan of dancing and light gun games, and had a pocketful of change. _I wonder if I've gotten rusty,_ he thought as he spotted an arcade down the street. _Time to see if I can live up to my expectations._

**To make a long story short:**

He was rusty. Impulsively selecting the "hardcore" difficulty setting, Jonathan had chose a fast club song. _Who can move their legs like that?_ thought Jonathan as he went on to other games, thoroughly defeated within the first minute of the song.

"Ha! That's what you get for challenging 'Empress Jamie' to a match!"

_Damn, the people here are pretty noisy._ The loud yell had come from a woman sitting at an old fighting game cabinet. Upon closer examination, he recognized her uniform as the same kind worn by members of Anti-Skill. _Looks like I'm not the only slacker here today._

Wiping his nose with his right index finger, Jonathan bumped into a girl wearing a school uniform.

"So sorry about-ah!" the girl stood facing Jonathan, pointing at his face. "You're that guy from that one time…at that place!"

"Could you be any less specific Saten Ruiko?"

"You recognized me?"

"My name's Jonathan…you seriously don't remember this? I was just introduced to you a short while ago."

"Jonathan…okay! I knew your name was something American-sounding."

_Is that the only thing you remember? Not my good looks or charming personality?_ Jonathan tucked his hands into his pockets, wondering why Saten had a school uniform on during a beautiful summer day.

"What's with the getup"

"Remedial lessons."

"Failed our exams, did we?"

"More like I'm a Level 0"

"Ah" _Great. Now I seem like a complete jackass. Hell, I didn't even shower this morning, I probably smell like one too!_

"So mister crack investigator, what brings you to the arcade? Shouldn't you be helping Uiharu."

"I've always said: leave the techies to their own devices. I would be of no use, so I decided to take the day off."

"Humph. In that case, how about a rousing round of _Street Fighter_?"

**Arcade-Later in the Day**

Saten had enjoyed her time with Jonathan. He was tall, funny, and handsome to boot. Not only that, they were pretty similar personality-wise. Saten was also pleased to learn that he was not very good at fighting games. They had played on pretty much every cabinet in the arcade; from _BlazBlue _to _Gekisho_. No matter what they did, Saten always came away with a 3 to 1 win:loss record.

"I thought a special agent like yourself would be more coordinated," stated Saten.

"Whoa, where the hell did that come from?"

"Konori told me. You work for some old lady called Spellman right?"

"Yeah, I don't see what this has to do with playing video games."

"You have that Burst ability right? Shouldn't your fluid movements help you out when it comes to the art of the joystick?"

"I would never use my ability to play a videogame. What you're suggesting is unsportsmanlike."

Saten would have come up with a witty retort, but was distracted by a scream emanating from a nearby alleyway. Apparently John had heard it as well, seeing as he took off running. Saten gave chase but was quickly falling behind. Noticing a blue aura surrounding his body, she concluded that he was using his ability to increase his speed.

Arriving in the alley, Jonathan and Saten came face to face with a blue beetle-like machine. _This must be the thing Judgment is investigating._ The machine was huddling over something, an unconscious woman. Noticing that it had been interrupted, the machine shot a laser at the duo.

"Watch it!"

Jonathan activated his burst ability and grabbed Saten. With her in his grip, he leapt over the laser. He had no time to rest, however, as the machine opened what resembled a mouth as he returned to earth. It emanated what Saten could identify only as ripples in the air. They were much more than that though. Saten and Jonathan were brought to their knees as high-frequency sonic waves struck their bodies. Saten felt incredible dizziness and an urge to vomit. _No! Don't! Not in front of a boy!_

To be fair, Jonathan was not faring much better. Unable to activate his ability, he was forced to absorb the machine's attack. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the woman try to crawl away. The machine noticed to, and sprayed her with a gas. The woman slumped, once again unconscious.

Perhaps tired of the battle, the machine shot another laser. This one hit its mark, sending the Jonathan sprawling across the ground. Saten could only watch as the machine picked up the woman and made its escape. As she repressed the bile in her throat, she could only ponder why a machine would kidnap a human.

**?**

_How was today's collection?_

"Shouldn't you know."

_I heard people enjoyed…polite conversation._

"In that case, twenty people were captured today."

_That's it?...I thought you…of all people…were better than that._

"All in good time. I noticed that your speech speed has increased."

_Yes…I'm being restored…slowly but surely._

**to be continued…**

**Wow! Something resembling a plot this time around! Please review with extreme prejudice.**


	4. Searching For an Elusive Truth

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Index nor Railgun series. If I did, I would be publishing this as a book to try to make some money off of it.**

Chapter 4-Searching For an Elusive Truth

**Russia-Three Months Ago**

Humans will go to great lengths to justify their actions, no matter how terrible they may be. One needs to look no farther than the Hitler and the Third Reich. In today's "civilized" and "enlightened" world, we like to think that such cruelty is no longer possible. In reality, all we can do is kid ourselves. Horrifying things exist in our world, and we do our best to ignore them. The sad thing is, by ignoring these horrors, we allow them to grow. In the face of little resistance, they will continue to propagate. It seems as if the only people willing to involve themselves are the ones that instigate these terrible things in the first place. They slaughter human "guinea pigs," alter genetic coding, force lab subjects to kill each other and encourage crime.

These were the things Kyosuke saw during his stay in Russia.

He still has nightmares about them.

**177****th**** Branch Office-Present**

Saten was out of the question.

Mii was sick.

Misaka was busy.

Kuroko didn't pick up her phone.

Jonathan blew her off.

It was for all these reasons that Uiharu was in a foul mood. Here she was, analyzing data like a dog, and nobody could bother to help out. Even if they were useless, they could at least try. Seeking someone to share the work with, Uiharu called the last available person: Kyosuke.

The phone rang three times. For a second, Uiharu thought that nobody would answer. On the fourth ring, however, Kyosuke picked up.

"H-hello?" he answered in an uncharacteristically shaken voice.

"Hi, it's Uiharu from Judgment. Umm…are you okay? You sound panicked."

"Oh no. I just woke, that's all. You wouldn't believe how hard it was to drag myself to the phone and answer."

"Well then, I was wondering if you could assist me in retrieving data from the robots you destroyed."

"…sure."

"Thanks. See you." Uiharu hung up the phone and stretched. _Finally._

**Later**

Kyosuke had absolutely no clue why he agreed to help Uiharu. He had, in all honesty, no idea what the hell she was doing. At first, he believed he may be able to coast his way through the work. He was an experienced investigator after all. If he could fit the work given to him with the context it was given, he may be able to get something done. Sadly, binary code doesn't fit together like puzzle pieces. After accidentally erasing a good portion of data, Uiharu stopped what she was doing to help him out. Thirty minutes later, she realized that trying to teach Kyosuke what to do was futile. By doing so, she was effectively taking more time to get less work done.

"Kyosuke…could you…maybe do something else?"

"Whatever you want."

"Okay. Can you please compile data on all of the recent kidnappings. It's nothing complicated; just search for some news articles and take note of the figures."

"That I can do."

And so, Uiharu got Kyosuke to do something that he could not possibly screw up. Three hours later, they were still doing their respective tasks. To be fair, Kyosuke had gathered all of the info he needed within twenty minutes. Most of his time was taken up trying to organize that information using _Excel_. After that didn't work, he tried to make _PowerPoint_ slides. While he succeeded in doing that, the kidnapping number were spread out over five slides, thus ruining any chance of side-by-side comparison. In the end, he decided to just copy all of the information down on a piece of paper.

Uiharu actually managed to finish all of her work. She had retrieved and spliced data that was spread out through many damaged chips. Now she would be able to view the machines' prime directives. Her hopes were dashed, however, when one little piece of information was missing. The password.

_Please insert name; Control Unit:__

Uiharu put her head on the desk. After all of that work, the data was hidden behind a series of characters. She was tired, irritated, and hungry. Uiharu got up and walked over to a sleeping Kyosuke.

"Excuse me."

He didn't wake up. Uiharu shook his shoulder. That didn't work either. Her stomach growled.

"Woooorgghhh!" Kyosuke jumped out of his chair, breaking out in a cold sweat. "What was that noise? Are we under atta-…why are you blushing?"

"…I'm hungry."

**Joseph's Family Restaurant**

After a two minute discussion on where to eat, the pair set out to a restaurant Uiharu frequented. Uiharu ordered a burger while Kyosuke had an omelet. As Uiharu settle down with a post-meal sundae, Kyosuke took out his notes.

"Two hundred people have gone missing."

Uiharu almost spit out her ice cream. "What! That's too many!"

"Those are the numbers I found, I triple checked using other sources. This is big."

"But…I can't crack the chips. I need the password."

"Isn't it possible to just hack in?"

"No. The protection's very high. I don't stand a chance against it."

"At the current rate, twenty people are expected to disappear per day. That number is increasing as time goes by."

"…"

"By the end of the month, I estimate 1200 people will have gone missing."

"How do you know?"

Kyosuke got up from his seat, throwing a few bills at Uiharu. It was enough to pay for the meal three times over. As he walked out of the restaurant, he left behind his two reasons as well.

"Math and intuition."

**?**

"What do you make of my progress. I hope it's up to your standards."

_I am almost complete. All that is required now is an…army._

"The abductions have been going along smoothly. Although this town consists of powerful espers, they're easy pray against the drones' hidden weapons."

_There are two unknown factors that I'm concerned about…however._

"Really now?"

_Yes. The children that are known as the "Railgun" and "Imagine Breaker."_

"I've accounted for them all ready."

_Oh?_

"If they manage to sniff us out, I'll fight them."

_Can you? A Level 5 and…an anomaly that should not exist?_

"I'm no fool. They shouldn't prove an obstacle in direct combat."

_The data says other wise. The girl in particular bothers me. She is more powerful than you in every regard._

"Her powers may be great, but that doesn't mean she can apply them well."

_So…you are saying you have better…technique?_

"I will break her, don't worry. By my own hand I will settle things."

…_yes._

"Once and for all…"

**to be continued**

**Ooooh. The main fight of the story (or arc, if I feel like it) is coming up soon. Please review.**


	5. What Should Have Stayed Hidden

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Index nor Railgun series. If I did, I would be publishing this as a book to try to make some money off of it.**

Chapter 5-What Should Have Stayed Hidden

**177****th**** Branch Office**

The general consensus in the office was that Jonathan was a moron. After witnessing a woman being kidnapped by one of the machines, Saten and Jonathan called everyone in. Even Mii, who was sick, came along. There were two notable absences though. Misaka Mikoto could not be contacted. Seeing as she was not a member of Judgment, however, the issue was not pressed. What was surprising was the absence of Kyosuke. When called, he told Jonathan that he was "onto something" and swiftly hung up.

Kuroko took a sip from her cup of tea. She was enjoying a nice day of corporal punishment that was so generously given to her by the dorm supervisor at Tokiwadai. Even though Kuroko was a member of Judgment, she was still punished for staying out after hours. In her mind, this was an incredible injustice. Saten had told Kuroko that she had discovered something big. Kuroko was willing to blow off her punishment to receive more if there was any real trouble. What Saten had in store for her, however, was a letdown to the highest degree.

"So let me get this straight: you came across a woman being assaulted by one of our mystery machines?"

"Yeah." replied Jonathan.

"And instead of saving her, you were defeated and she was promptly taken away?"

"Once again, yes."

"AND YOU INTERRUPTED ME FOR THIS!"

"What! What did I do?"

"We all ready knew the machines were kidnapping people."

"That was mere speculation. My escapade proved our theory."

Kuroko clenched the bridge of her nose between her pointer finger and thumb. This American "investigator" was a huge pain. She felt an incredible urge to drop kick him for his incompetence. Despite assurances that he was a tough Level 4, he managed to lose to the enemy.

Uiharu chose this moment to approach Kuroko. "Umm…Shirai, I have something to say too."

"Out with it."

"Kyosuke did the math on the disappearance rates and…well…"

_Oh no. This will be big, won't it?_

"He estimated that the number could increase to 1200 by the end of the month."

Dead silence. This was heavy news. What had started out as a mystery had quickly escalated into a potentially catastrophic event.

From the corner of the room came the weak voice of Konori Mii. "Contact Anti-Skill."

"We need them?" asked Saten.

"We have a large projected number and evidence that the machines are the ones responsible. We need to mobilize a large group and destroy them all."

Nobody disagreed.

**District 7**

As one of Spellman's boys, Kyosuke had been taught to keep his cool in problematic situations. One time he stumbled upon a wandering squad of mercenaries in an abandoned laboratory during his stay in Russia. When they attacked, Kyosuke redirected all of their gunfire using Wormhole, knocking the weapons from their hands. After that, he took them out using basic martial arts moves. Perhaps experiences like this were the reason he was not shaken at all when confronted by a large humanoid machine in District 7.

_I haven't seen this model yet, is it a new foe?_

The machine was approximately three meters tall and painted a dark green color. In its hand was some sort of gun weapon. Kyosuke eyed it warily. It looked large enough to take his head off with a single shot.

_It would be best to exercise caution._

Kyosuke took a step to the left. The machine raised its weapon in response.

"Oh. Was that the wrong move?"

The machine fired. A large beam of red energy came from the barrel of the gun. _Too late._ Kyosuke opened up a wormhole, swallowing up the energy beam.

"Sorry, but my ability is perfect against this kind of attack."

Kyosuke opened up a new wormhole right above the enemy. The energy beam came out, striking the enemy right in the head. It exploded in a flash of orange and yellow. Kyosuke shielded himself from the flying debris using Wormhole. As the flames died down around him, he navigated towards the source. Dull surprise registered on his face. Kyosuke pulled out his phone, dialing the number of his partner.

"Jonathan? It's Kyosuke. Where are you? The office huh? Listen, I need you to make a large, clear space. I'm bringing something over."

**177****th**** Branch Office**

Upon receiving the phone call, Jonathan moved a bunch of desks to the side. A wormhole opened up where Saten had previously been standing. Out of it came Kyosuke and a man surrounded by smoking metal.

Kuroko held her nose. "What is this?"

"I stumbled upon a machine and destroyed it. I found this person inside."

The man looked up at the Tokiwadai student. A dull, lifeless look in his eyes. "So this is Judgment?"

His voice was monotone, metallic. No emotion could be detected from his speech. "The core unit has tasked me with your elimination. Now that I have failed, I must self-terminate. Nothing must get in the way of my Lady Retribution."

He fell silent. Konori walked over and put her fingers on his neck.

"…no pulse."

**Academy City**

Anti-Skill and Judgment soon teamed up to deal with the new threat. Many machines were destroyed by the alliance. The smaller beetle-like ones became known as "drones." Destruction of drones yielded broken parts. Larger machines were also battled during this time. Inside of them were people like the man. Comparing them with Academy City's database revealed that they were the missing people.

The alliance has been operating for two weeks now.

There is still no end in sight.

**District 19**

Misaka Mikoto was exhausted. Two weeks ago, she had been told of the severity of the current situation. She was quick to volunteer her services. As a Level 5, her powers were of great help to Anti-Skill and Judgment. What she had not counted on, however, was how much her help was needed.

Anti-Skill was holding a large strategy meeting at the moment. Thus, it was primarily up to Judgment to keep the streets clear. Mikoto was teamed up with Jonathan, Kyosuke, and Kuroko. During a routine patrol, the group was attacked by a group of drones. Dispatching them all had taken quite a while.

"Ugh," she complained, "I need a shower."

Kuroko was quick to reply. "I'll help you with that."

"No thanks."

Mikoto noticed that Kuroko was about to pounce. She was interrupted by a large explosion behind her. _Is that good luck or bad?_

The source of the explosion was a bus-sized machine resembling a horse. "bad luck. Definitely bad luck."

**177****th**** Branch Office**

Uiharu pounded away furiously at her keyboard. She had spent the past two weeks trying to guess the mystery password. When the man had said "Lady Retribution," it seemed like a perfect fit. Typing the name in had yielded a failure though. Uiharu was stumped and had no clue as to what to do next. She had spent all of her time using words from a Japanese to English dictionary, inputting passwords from both languages with a program. Nothing worked.

_No password even after using all of these words from two languages._

Languages. That was the key word. Uiharu opened up a new internet page and went to a translation website. Typing in retribution, she searched for as many ways to say "retribution" as possible. Venganza, retribuição, rangaistus. None of these worked. Then she used the German translation-vergeltung. Her computer gave a beep. She was in!

**District 19**

Misaka Mikoto stretched her aching muscles. In front of her was tons of metallic debris.

"I guess even such a large thing couldn't stand against my railgun."

"That's a good thing," replied Jonathan, "that monster went down quickly."

_Yeah…but it's getting harder to beat these things._ As Misaka thought this, Kuroko got a call on her cell.

Misaka's roommate answered it with a casual "Uiharu." Kuroko's aura of coolness broke down when her eyes widened with shock.

"Everyone! Uiharu got in! Get over here, I'll put the phone on speaker!"

Misaka was two meters from Kuroko when she first heard Uiharu's voice. _"Is everyone there?"_

"Yeah," said Jonathan.

"_I managed to retrieve the machine's mission. The drones were assigned to kidnap people. These people would then be plugged into larger machines. Apparently, they run using mental energy."_

Kyosuke and Jonathan looked at each other.

"_All of this mental energy was put onto some sort of network. It is being used to power up something known as a 'core unit.'_

Kuroko looked at the ground. "The core unit was the password, right?"

"_Yes. It's name is Vergeltung-German for retribution."_

Misaka's palms began to sweat.

"_According to the data, the core unit uses the mental energy from the network along with energy coming from a human inside of it. I believe that this human is the mastermind."_

Kyosuke smirked. It was a nervous smirk though, one that clearly showed he was shaken by the news. "A human mastermind, huh?"

"_Yes, I'm still sorting through all of the data. There's an incredible amount to go through and…"_

Uiharu's voice cut off. "Are you okay?" asked Jonathan.

"Perhaps she's concentrating," offered Kyosuke.

"_The mastermind…"_

Uiharu's voice was shaky and hard to make out.

"_The mastermind is…"_

Was she crying? Misaka clearly heard sobs coming from the phone's speakers.

"_The human serving as the energy source for the core unit must have a large amount of mental energy. They need to be Level 4 or higher…there's only one person with this name in the database."_

"Great!" exclaimed Kuroko, "That makes it easy!"

"_But…I…I can't accept this."_

"Uiharu?"

"_Why is YOUR name here? Why?"_

"Uiharu!"

"_The human working with Vergeltung…"_

Kuroko swallowed hard.

"_You've been here all along…"_

Jonathan looked panicked.

"_You've been laughing at us the whole time…haven't you!_

Kyosuke clenched his fist.

_What the hell,_ thought Misaka, _what the hell is going on?_

"_What do you have to say for yourself?"_

"…"

"_What do you have to say for yourself…KYOSUKE!"_

Misaka turned toward **him** slowly. **He **stared at the ground without saying a word. Suddenly **he** threw **his** head back. An evil laughter pierced the night sky. Misaka could only stare at **him**. The man she had trusted…that everyone had trusted.

"My…this is good. Great! I was starting to get bored! Come now. Let's do this. I'll end this pointless battle. ONCE AND FOR ALL!"

**to be continued…**

**Whoa…this chapter was actually decently long. Please review.**


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